Serrated fork

ABSTRACT

It occurred to me that we turn to our knife when we cannot cut right thru a food product. My serrated fork will substitute the fork “as is”. My serrated fork will cut thru pastries, cakes, eggs, omelets, pancakes, waffles, fish, fruit and other edibles with more ease than a regular fork. Step  1,  I placed a regular fork tightly onto a vise. Step  2,  I used a midget hacksaw with a junior hacksaw blade and I made some small notches on the outer tong of the fork. Step  3,  I used a mini-grinder set to smoothen the edges. Lastly, I washed the fork to remove any tiny metal flakes. I made a fork for a right-handed person, another for left-handed user. I used a small fork to model both serrated sides.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to a fork, more particularly, to a fork with aserrated edge for ease in cutting several food products such aspastries, waffles, eggs, omelets, fish and pancakes.

2. Prior Art Form

I noticed how we hold our fork to cut thru foods such as eggs, omeletsand waffles. We hold our fork tightly and force it down. We sway thefork back and forth until we slice the piece of food before us. We turnto our knife when we cannot cut right thru the food product. Theserrated fork is an eating utensil to substitute the fork “as is”nowadays. My fork will cut with more ease than a regular fork. Theserrated fork is novel and useful.

There is a need for restaurant innovations. The serrated fork offers anopportunity to restaurants and homes everywhere, worldwide to keep upwith innovation and the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives. Whenthe “sphork” was created long ago, no one thought of marrying the butterknife and the fork. The serrated fork brings these two together, thebutter knife and the fork. I have seen children and adults alike lickinga butter knife; this serrated fork will need the help of those skilledin the art to craft a perfect unity between the butter knife and thefork to create a masterful vision of the serrated fork which can be lickable. I can envision a serrated fork in every home! I can picture uscutting easily into a thick piece of Cod with just a wiggle of the wristas we handle the serrated fork.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The novel features of the serrated fork are set forth particularly withthe appended claims.

However, the invention may best be understood by reference to thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings. There are serrated forks for the right-handed eater and theleft-handed eater, and then there is the variation of this claim whichplaces notches on both sides of the fork. Notches are located on theouter side tong of each fork or on both outside tongs of a fork. Thenotches are smooth to create an edge like that of a cross between abutter knife and a dull steak knife. Serrated notches are approximately1-2 mm. at their top and move along the fork's edge. The size of thenotch decreases by the end of the fork by a slight mm

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention will now be described in a more full a manner includingreference to the accompanying drawings. The serrated fork however may beembodied in many different ways and should not be construed to thepicture set forth herein. This picture is given so that this applicationwill be clear and complete to those skilled in the art.

The fork “as is” is approximately 7½ inches long. The fork is part ofour table's silverware, as is the spoon and knife. The fork usuallybrings four tongs. I refer to the outer most tongs as those to thefarthest most side of the fork. The reference is made to the one tong onthe right as we face it or to the one tong on the left as we face it.Thus, the invention brings forth the variation of a fork with a serratededge on one or both outer most tongs as we face it. However, theserrated fork is conveniently available in various sizes in order tosuit the needs of all its individual users, right-handed or left-handed,7½ inches or 6½ inches.

The more important feature of the invention, in order for the detaileddescription herein to be understood and appreciated by those ofmasterful skill in the art, are the notches given to the outside tongs.The notches are a skillful design between a butter-knife and a dullsteak knife. The features are to be apparent and obvious to one skilledin the art.

It is here noted that the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enablethe United States Patent and Trademark Office and the public in general,including the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who areNOT familiar with patent or legal terms and/or phrases to determinequickly from a cursory inspection the nature and spirit of the technicaldisclosure of the application. This abstract is neither intended todefine the invention of the application, nor is it intended to limit thescope and essence of the invention in any way.

Upon aforementioned herein, it will be greatly appreciated that anymodifications and/or change made by those skilled in the art bedutifully done without departing from the scope and spirit of theinvention, the serrated fork.

Manufacture

The information submitted within by self, Ivonne Haddock, inventor,describes a concept with clear intent. Drawing on available data theserrated fork design features seem well within the creations oftechnology. It indicates no unusual features that would complicate thefabrication of the serrated fork. The actual technological productionwould vary little from the already in-use technology employed worldwide.The serrated fork is a variation to a regular fork already manufactured.Naturally, further design work is necessary to determine the serrateddetail along the outer edge of a tong and details in sizes. Nonetheless,the design of the serrated fork taps into existing production processesand techniques and tooling; therefore, there is no need of new ornon-existent technologies. There is indeed willingness to partner withany manufacturer interested in entering the product into the marketplace.

Cost/Cost Estimates

Cost to manufacturers. These figures are all estimates based researchdone on retail prices at big stores. (Prices vary considerably)

Approximate Production cost by manufacturers would fluctuate from$0.50-2.00. Manufacturers do keep manufacturing cost a secret and thisis information is not available to public personnel such as myself.

Approximate Wholesale cost. These prices would also fluctuate from$1.20-3.00.

Retail cost, (Available to self, us) but also fluctuate from $1.50 eachto a set of four for $8.00 or from $2.20-8.00. And this is considering amarkup between 20-60%. The fixed cost of a regular fork varies accordingto quality, name brand and style and whether purchased individually oras a set. The serrated fork costs will incur of equipment or retoolingmaterials, labor and overhead, in addition to handling, shippingexpenses and product liability insurance. The serrated fork if pricedhigh considering the above would be priced approximately at $4.00 eachor priced low considering the above mentioned circumstances would beapproximately priced at $2.00 in addition to be retailed by a largeretailer such as Walmart. With demand as a novelty suppliers anddistributors can price my serrated fork at a low cost margin to attractmore quantity and take advantage of bulk.

Estimating a final selling price for my serrated fork is onerous. Itsprice should relate to the price of similar products: fork, butterknife, steak knife, spoons. These estimates have been made by review ofone regular fork at retailers (Kohl's, Walmart, and Kmart) prices. Itruly believe this product is priceless and its value is great to me.

Research

With the help of Kristine Lavandero from Arizona askristine@flyingcoyote.com from Flying Coyote Productions I found asimilar gadget made by Amazon. This tool embodies a fork, spoon andknife all-in-one.

1. A Serrated Fork, a fork with a serrated edge.
 2. The fork of claim 1where the serrated edge is on the outermost right tong of the fork. 3.The fork of claim 1 where the serrated edge is on the outermost lefttong of the fork.
 4. The fork of claim 1 where the serrated edge is onboth outermost tongs of the fork.